Govt to ban mobile phone use by school children

Mobile phones used by school children under 18 years have led to promote pornography, child abuse and other forms of child exploitation. Child Development and Women's Empowerment Minister Sumedha G. Jayasena will submit a Cabinet paper to ban the use of modern mobile phones for school children under the age of 18, Minister's Coordinating Secretary W.M.S. Wijekoon said.

He said according to the Minister, there will be a protest against such a decision from several parties but tough decisions have to be taken to rescue the younger generation from certain plagues. She also appealed to all parents and community leaders to take action against this negative trend.

The lack of coordination and communication between different institutions for child welfare and protection has created a negative impact on the child welfare. This was revealed at a two day workshop to formulate an action plan to combat child exploitation in the Monaragala District.

There is no proper flow in the programmes implemented in the Monaragala district for the child welfare, he said.

The resource persons at this workshop, revealed that the Monaragala district is affected by the alcoholism and most of the child molestation incidents that take place in the district are related to alcoholism.

Minister Jayasena stressed the importance of implementing `Mathata Thitha' programme at village level.

She said the Ministry does not receive required funds to carry on all the tasks and NGOs make a significant contribution towards this end.